Updated June 2004
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| INTRODUCTION | |
| TASK |  |
After learning the process for collecting, organizing and analyzing data, you and the members of your group will complete three tasks:
Task #1 Shoe Size vs. Height
Your group will obtain shoe size and height data from
the class. Then your group will organize and analyze the data. Your analysis
will involve making a scatter plot and finding a line of best fit on the
TI-83 graphing calculator and answering the given questions.
Task #2 High School Drop-Out Rate
Your group will go to a designated site on the Internet
to collect information about high school drop-out rates. Then you will
organize and analyze your data (as in activity #1.)
Task #3 Positive and Negative Correlations
Your group will explore sites on the Internet provided
in a database. You will be required to find two examples of data: one illustrating
a positive correlation and one illustrating a negative correlation. Your
group will present both sets of data to the class in chart form. Then you
will choose one set of data to present to the class.
| PROCESS |  |
You will work with an assigned group to complete this project. Five class periods will be allotted to work on the project. If additional time is needed to complete the project, you and your group members are expected to do this work outside of class.
The following list of steps will help you in completing
each of the tasks.
| Task #1 Shoe Size vs. Height |  |
| Task #2 High School Drop-Out Rates |  |
1) Working with your group, go to the Table
of Annual High School Drop-Out Rates.
2) Complete the following on the worksheet provided.
a) Sketch a scatter plot for the drop-out
rate of grade 10 for the years 1984-1998 on the grid provided.
b) What type of correlation do you
see?
c) What is a possible explanation
for the trend?
d) Enter the data in your calculator
and find the equation for the line of best fit for the data.
Click
here for help.
e) Predict the drop-out rate for the
year 2005. Do you think this prediction is reasonable?
f) What might cause the slope of this
trend line to change?
| Task #3 Positive and Negative Correlations |  |
1) Working with your group, you will explore the database
of tables to find one example of data
illustrating a positive correlation
and one example of data illustrating a negative correlation. Be sure to
note the sites where you find your
data. For each set of data, print out a copy of the data in chart form.
2) For each set of data, complete the following on the
worksheet provided.
a) Sketch the scatter plot on the
grid provided.
b) Enter the data in your calculator
and find the equation for the line of best fit.
c) Give an appropriate analysis of
the data.
3) Your group will present your findings from one set
of data to the class, including a demonstration of
the procedure on the TI-83. Also,
your group will lead the class in a discussion about the data and its
implications.
| RESOURCES |  |
The following is a list of Internet Sites you should explore to complete Task #3 Positive and Negative Correlation.
1) The Quarterly Wage and Employment
Series (QWES)- provides current data about employment and earnings
2) The Cable Industry
at a Glance- provides a table of basic cable rates
3)
Digest of Education Statistics- provides tables of data for levels of education
4) The Census Bureau- provides data tables for the following subjects:
(In these sites, look for the historical tables)
1
Marital Status and Living Arrangements Data
2
Voting and Registration Data
3
Households and Families
4
Educational Attainment
5 U.S. COMMODITY
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS AS RELATED TO OUTPUT (OEI)
6 Poverty
7 Income
8
Fertility of American Women
9
Selected Historical Census Data
10
School Enrollment
11
Child Care
12
State Population Estimates
13
Urban and Rural Definitions and Data
| EVALUATION |  |
Your final project grade will be based on the total number
of points from each task.
Click here to see the rubrics for
each task.
Click here to see the scale for
the final project grade.
| CONCLUSION |  |
In this activity, several applications of the scatter plot were explored. A scatter plot is a graph which relates data from two different sets by plotting the data as ordered pairs. The plot helps to determine a relationship between the two sets of data. As you have seen, this relationship can be used to determine trends and make predictions.
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